Toddlers often use the transitional object as a prelinguistic external representation of self, an “objectifier.” This allows the child to reduce anxiety stemming from experiences of helplessness in the hands of a caregiver, and to develop a sense of continuity and control. The author postulates that adolescents and some adults use transitional objects in the same fashion, particularly to maintain continuity of the self in stressful circumstances. One adolescent patient who suffered from chronic separation problems always carried with her a stuffed toy kitten she had owned since her fourth year. She used it to manifest an aspect of self she disavowed but seemed to value. In the course of treatment, she became able to integrate these characteristics into her own identity. There are two additional cases illustrating the point that after individuals achieve coherent ego identity, they can relinquish the primitive external representation of fragmented parts of self, the transitional object.